Tag: China

Two monkeys have been cloned in a Chinese laboratory. They were created with the identicaltechnique used to clone Dolly, the sheep back in 1996. Zhong Zhong and Hua Hua were born a few weeks ago at a Chinese lab. Researchers say they are growing normally.

Over two decades ago, Dolly, became the first successfully cloned mammal. Since then cows, pigs, dogs and other mammals have been cloned. The cloning of primates was thought to be more difficult than the creation of other mammals in a lab. The Chinese team has brought the scientific community one step closer to the cloning of humans.

The technique used in the test involves transferring the nucleus of a cell into an egg which has had its nucleus removed. The experiment was remarkable because it used fetal cells instead of adult cells. It took the Chinese scientists many attempts and 127 eggs to clone just two monkeys.

According to scientists, the cloning of monkeys will help to research human diseases, including cancer and Alzheimer’s disease. It is also important in drug research.

China has invested heavily in research in the past years. The successful test came at a time when American and European scientists have backed away from using monkeys and apes for ethical reasons.

Close-up of Dolly, the sheep in her stuffed form – Image: Toni Barros

Words

according to = as said by …

Alzheimer’s disease = disease that affects the brain, especially of older people; it makes it difficult for you to move, talk or remember things

attempt = try

back away = stop doing something

cancer = serious illness in which cells can grow in an uncontrolled way

clone = an animal or plant produced by scientists from one cell of another animal or plant so that they are exactly the same

creation = making something

decade = ten years

disease = illness

drug research = creating new forms of medicine

ethical = something that is morally good or bad

fetal = belonging to an unborn baby or animal

human = a person

identical = the same

including = also

invest = put money into …

laboratory = room or building in which scientific experiments take place

mammal = type of animal that drinks milk from its mother’s body when it is young; humans, dogs and cows are mammals

nucleus = the central part of an atom

primate = member of a group of mammals that includes humans and monkeys

remove = take away

remarkable = unusual, surprising

researcher = person who studies something in order to find out more about it

China has put a ban on all ivory trade in the country. The ban came into effect on January 1 of this year. 67 official ivory processing factories and shops were closed last year and a remaining 100 were shut down on December 31. A similar ban in the U.S. went into effect in June 2016.

The Chinese decision to stop the ivory trading business has been welcomed by the World Wildlife Fund and other organisations as a major effort in protecting the world’s elephant population. It is estimated that over 30,000 African elephants are killed every year.

Chinese citizens regard ivory as a status symbol. People buy jewellery, chopsticks and other objects made of ivory, leading to the development of one of the world’s largest ivory markets. When trading ivory was officially banned worldwide in 1990, China continued to sell it through shops and factories. The legal trade also brought illegal ivory into the country.

However, there is a majorconcern that the new law does not apply to HongKong, an important ivory trading hub. Authorities in the former British colony are working on a ban of their own, expected to take effect soon. On the other side, customers will probably go to Laos, Vietnam or other Asian countries, where trading laws are not so strict.

In the past year, ivory prices started to go down as more and more Chinese shops were closing. The ban will have a big impact on African countries, especially Kenya and Tanzania, wheremost of the elephant poaching is taking place.

Elephant tusk with a carved decoration

Words

apply = take effect

authorities = government organisations that have the power to make decisions

ban = to forbid something; not allow

citizen = a person who lives in a country and has rights there

concern = feeling of worry about something important

development = growth

effort = try

especially = above all

estimate = to calculate how big something is by the information that you have

former = in the past

however = but

into effect = start to work

illegal = not allowed; against the law

ivory = hard, smooth yellowish-white material from the long teeth of elephants

jewellery = small things that you wear for decoration, like necklaces or rings

legal = allowed by the government

major = important

official = allowed by the government

poaching = to shoot or catch animals illegally

processing = here: when you make an elephant’s tusk into jewellery and other objects

protect = here to keep animals safe

remaining = those that were left

similar = almost the same

status symbol = something that you have that you think shows high social rank or position

strict= here: law that must be obeyed

trading hub = here: a place where ivory is bought and sold

welcome = to be glad that something has happened

worldwide = around the world

World Wildlife Fund = organisation that tries to save and protect endangered animals

For the first time in history, China has overtaken the United States in the number of supercomputers. Currently, China has a total of 202 of the world’s 500 fastest computers, up from 159 half a year ago. The number of US supercomputers has dropped to 144.

The world’s most powerful computer is located in China. The Sunway TaihuLight , at Wuxi can do 93 quadrillioncalculations per second. The fastest UScomputer,the Titan, is ranked fifth while Europe’s speediest computer is Switzerland’s Piz Daint, ranked third.

Supercomputers are machines that occupyentire buildings and use the combined power of thousands of processors. They are used to carry out special tasks that involve a huge number of calculations. Among them are weather forecasts and climate studies, as well as strategic tasks like nuclear weapons simulations.

Chinese supremacy in the world of supercomputing reflects the country’s investment in research and development. One-fifth of the money used on research and development around the world is spent in China.

On the other side, many Chinese systems have been created to earn money. Processing power is rented to other national and international companies.

For years the speed of supercomputers has steadily increased although since 2012 this increase has slowed down.

Singles Day is the biggest e-commerce day in the world. Organized by China’s Alibaba, shopping sales on November 11 hit a record $25 billion, 40% more than on Singles Day 2016. In contrast, Prime Day, organized by Amazonachieved only $1 billion in sales. During the Thanksgiving and Black Friday weekend of 2016 American online shoppers spent $5 billion.

Singles Day started out as an informal holiday in China, celebrating people who stayed single. Similiar to Valentine’s Day in the western world Singles Day took place on 11/11 . In 2009, Alibaba turned it into a shopping holiday and in the past 8 years, sales have steadilyincreased.

Although the event targets mostly Chinese customers, shoppers came from 220 countries. Over 80 brands took part in the event, with Nike and Xiaomi Corp. among the biggest winners. Household goods and electrical appliances were the most bought products, but customers soughtbargains for almost everything, ranging from cheap toilet paper to rice.

At its peak Alibaba’s computers handled 250 000 transactions per second, most of them coming in via mobile phones. In the weeks before the event was held, Alibaba had helped 600,000 companies upgrade their computer systems to make them fit for Singles Day.

The event was also turned into a gala in Shanghai where celebrities Nicole Kidman and tennis star Maria Sharapova counted down the seconds until the world’ largest sales event started.

Many critics of the event say that Singles Day is environmentallycontroversial. It creates an enormous amount of waste. According to Greepeace, 1 billion packages were delivered in the days that followed the event.

Alibaba’s Singles Day is a display of Chinese spending power. The company’s owner, Jack Ma, is one of China’s richest men. He has been investing heavily in new technologies includingautomated stores which use facial recognition systems.

Singles Day in China – Image: Chrionexfleckeri1350

Words

according to = … as said by

achieve = here: reach a number of sales

automated = where everything is done automatically, without people helping

although = while

bargain = to buy something cheaply, for less money than usual

billion = a thousand million

brand = type of product made by a company

celebrate = here: in honour of, to show respect for

celebrity = famous person

controversial = here: to cause a lot of disagreement

critic = a person who is against something

customer = a person who buys something

deliver = to bring to a person’s home

display = to show something

e-commerce = buying and selling things with computers over the Internet

electrical appliance = things you use at home and need electricity, like a cooker or washing machine

enormous = very large

environment = nature and the world around us

facial recognition = when a computer image of a person can find out who they are

handle = deal with

heavily = very much

household goods = things that you need in the house and use every day

in contrast = the difference between two things

including = also

increase = to go up

informal = not official

record = highest

sales = buying and selling products

seek – sought = look for

steadily = slowly

target = people who the event aims at; potential customers

transaction = here: the sales of a single product

upgrade = here: to give a computer more power, so that it can do more things